SpokEasy

March 2019

Big Haul

Today was big haul day! I hitched up the trailer and rode to the salvage store. This trip I brought along the cooler so that I could bring home frozen veggies.  I got a big bag of cut green beans, and a big bag of broccoli florets; but the cooler wasn\’t large enough for both. The broccoli seemed to be the more solidly frozen of the two; so I put it in a regular plastic grocery bag for the trip home. That rectangular thing lying near the cooler is a make-your-own-grab-bag. The salvage store has several bins full of things such as 8-packs of cookies; small snack packs of nuts; and candy bars. Bags are provided; and you can fill your bag with whichever items from the bins that you like. I look for things that will make good on-bike food. A grab bag the size shown here is $3.00. I fit eighteen items in that bag.😊 In a regular store, each one of those items would cost over a dollar; so I saved at least $15 right there. If you want even more, a large bag is $5.00. The only stipulation is that the bag must be able to zip shut. This pic doesn\’t show as much detail as I\’d like; and I\’ve got things stacked up, so this big haul might look like less than it is. I also forgot to include the loaf of bread that I bought in this pic. Here\’s the catch: I still need to get to a regular supermarket for apples! Grand total at the salvage store: not quite $30.  I\’m so glad I found that place. Now if only they\’d have GU-Gels at, let\’s say, $15 for a box of 24.

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Treading Lightly?

We often hear about \”treading lightly on the Earth\”. We hear about recycling; and about using as few resources as possible. Then there\’s minimalism; and even working to get your possessions down to 100 things. People who tackle the challenge have quite a bit of latitude. Some folks want to count each book that they own as an item; others consider their entire home library as one thing. What about cyclists who want to get into the minimalist lifestyle? That could be tricky, especially if you want to reduce the number of your belongings to 100 (or fewer). I, for one, would probably count each of my bicycles as a single item. I have only two! But a cyclist who has a road bike, a hybrid, MTB, cross bike, etc. might well consider the entire pedal-powered fleet as one item. The bicycles are only the beginning. What about the trainer, the floor pump, rollers, and so on? Count each one as an item? Include them with the bicycles-as-one-item? You see where we\’re going here with the latitude bit, right? How about the cyclist\’s wardrobe? Is having four pairs of shorts a sin against minimalism? If the climate where I live were less humid, shorts would dry faster; and I might need fewer pairs. Well, one less pair, anyway. Add in tools, jerseys, arm and leg warmers, jackets, skull caps, gloves, helmets, etcetera, the bicycles + related items can come to 100 things before we even get to the rest of the stuff we have at home! I\’m not against weeding out stuff I don\’t need. Getting down to 100 items? Treading lightly isn\’t so easy!

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